Young and driven

22-year-old Chelsea Shorney returns to CNY to open esthetic boutique

“I’ve been to some places where no matter what type of skin you have, they do the same thing for everyone – it’s like they’re robots. I want to be able to give everyone their own experience based on what’s going on with their skin,” said Shorney, who opened her business in the White House on July 1.

Fayetteville  Most 22-year-olds are either still in school or just beginning their careers with an entry- level position. But Chelsea Shorney is an exception – she’s already the boss. On July 1, she opened Chelsea’s Esthetic Boutique, where she’s a licensed esthetician. Shorney received her New York State esthetician license when she was only 18, and said her age caused many people to dismiss her without giving her a chance. Still, she’s glad to have her foot in the door in the esthetics business.

“I was the youngest one in my class, most of the other people gone to college and worked for 20 years and decided they wanted to do something new,” Shorney said. “And people told me they would never trust me with their skin. It was frustrating at first, but it’s been rewarding. I already have my career, I have my interest and I’ve already opened up a business. By the time I’m 30, I’m going to have so much knowledge, I’ll be set.”

Shorney, a Baldwinsville native, said she first got interested in esthetics while attending Baker High School, when she loved putting on makeup. “To do good makeup, you have to have good skin” she said. But the deciding factor was when Shorney didn’t get accepted into the college she wanted to go to.

“I decided to take a different route,” she said. “I knew I always wanted to be in New York City, so I found a school down there.”

At 17, Shorney headed to New York City, where she lived in a YMCA and enrolled in the Atelier Esthetique Institute of Esthetics. She completed the 600 hours of study necessary to obtain her license, but found herself wanting to dig deeper, so she enrolled in two more courses: a paramedic course, where she learned how to work alongside a doctor, and the I-TEC course, which allows her to practice in 30 other countries.